. . . don't know what to think of it - just saw this on their WT library:
Scientifically Possible?
Reproduction without a male is known as parthenogenesis [Greek, parthenos meaning “maiden” plus “genesis”]. Recently scientists have been experimenting successfully with parthenogenesis in mammals. The Economist of August 1, 1981, reports: “Embryo development in the absence of sperm is the natural means of reproduction in many lower species of animal. . . . Parthenogenesis is being studied using laboratory mice. Several means exist for artificially activating an unfertilised mouse egg.”
Similarly, Dr. M. B. V. Roberts of Marlborough College, England, writes: “An unfertilized egg was removed from a female rabbit, activated by pricking, and then popped back into the uterus. Hormone treatment had been previously given to the female so that her uterine mucosa was prepared for implantation. Normal development ensued, and a visibly normal offspring was produced.”
Are we to conclude from this that God induced Mary’s pregnancy in some such way from an unfertilized egg? No. From the accompanying chart, you can see why. If Mary’s firstborn had received both chromosomes (X) from her, the offspring would of necessity have been female.
Hence, something more must have been involved in the conception of Jesus. Just what this was the angel explained to Joseph: “That which has been begotten in her is by holy spirit.” (Matthew 1:20) We do not know precisely how this was done. Yet we must admit that if mere man can in a limited way manipulate the fertilization process in the laboratory, surely it is not beyond the power of the Creator and Life-Giver of the universe to do so and to transfer the life-force of his Son from the heavens to the ovum of a virgin girl.
[Diagram on page 5]
A female’s egg contains two X chromosomes. The male sperm cell has an X and a Y. Each parent provides one chromosome. If two X’s combine, a girl is produced. If an X and a Y, the child will be male.
Laboratory-induced parthenogenesis causes a female egg to divide and grow, so the result (XX) must be a female.
Such a type of parthenogenesis could not have occurred with Mary, for her firstborn (Jesus) was a male. Since she was a virgin, the Y chromosome must have been supplied miraculously, as the Bible indicates.
w82 2/15 pp. 4-5 The Virgin Birth—Can You Believe It?
